YOUR JOB Educator certification/continuing professional education The State Board for Educator Certification was created in 1995 by the Texas Legislature to regulate and oversee certification, continuing education and standards of conduct of public school educators. The SBEC comprises 15 members, 11 of whom are voting members appointed by the governor; of the four nonvoting members, one represents the Texas Education Agency, one represents the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, one is a college of education dean, and one is a person who has experience with an alternative certification program not affiliated with an institution of higher education. Among the 11 voting members are four public members and seven practitioners: four teachers, two administrators and one counselor.
Science of teaching reading certification exam
Candidates issued certification to teach prekindergarten through grade six after Jan. 1, 2021, must demonstrate proficiency on the science of teaching reading certification exam.
Certificate renewal periods/CPE requirements Teacher certificates issued after Aug. 31, 1999, are subject to a five-year certificate renewal period, with a 150-hour continuing professional education requirement that must be met through an SBEC-approved provider. (TCTA offers more than 45 hours of free CPE videos for members at tcta.org/seminars.)
Counselor, librarian, educational diagnostician and master teacher certificates issued after Aug. 31, 1999, have a 200-hour CPE requirement for every renewal cycle.
Educators who add another class of certificate during a renewal cycle can prorate the additional CPE hours required by the new certificate for the remainder of the renewal cycle. Certificates issued before Sept. 1, 1999, are exempt from these rules. Educators adding new certificate areas should be aware that while their current certificates retain the “lifetime” designation, any certificates added after Aug. 31, 1999, are renewable and subject to the continuing education requirements. Education aides are required to be certified but are not subject to the continuing education requirements. Note: Non-certified personnel are exempt from CPE requirements and are not subject to certificate sanctions.
Certification by exam
TCTA-initiated legislation allows certified teachers to become certified in another area or level simply by passing the applicable certification exam, without having to complete an educator preparation program or obtain additional college credit hours. Certification by exam is not available for teachers of students with visual impairments, for the EC-3 certificate, or for certificates other than the classroom teacher category of certificate (e.g., school counselor, learning resources/school librarian, educational diagnostician). Teachers adding certificates via exam can register for the applicable certification exam by indicating that they are obtaining certification by examination and will not have to receive a bar code for the exam from an educator preparation program.
Certification exam retakes
Retakes of certification exams are limited to four times per exam unless SBEC waives the limitation for good cause. The retake limitation does not apply to candidates seeking a standard Trade and Industrial Workforce Training certificate. Applicants for good cause waivers must pay a $160 fee and demonstrate successful completion of a specified number of educational activities hours directly related to the relevant certification exam competencies that the candidate failed to pass in the certification exam. The number of required educational activities hours increases the further away a candidate’s score is from meeting the passing standard. Candidates are required to wait progressively longer periods of time before applying for a good cause waiver with each successive unsuccessful exam attempt, up to the limit of five attempts. Good cause determinations are administratively handled with appeals available to SBEC. Waiver applications are available on the TEA website at https://tea.texas.gov/Texas_ Educators/Certification/Educator_Testing/.
Disciplinary alternative education program teachers
DAEP teachers are required to be fully certified.
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2020-21 TCTA Survival Guide
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